SAN JOSE — A real estate agent has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for using a Ponzi scheme to bilk friends and family out of more than $2 million, which she spent on luxury cars, expensive clothes and fancy furniture, according to prosecutors.

Jill Marie Silvey, 51, was convicted earlier this year in Santa Clara County Superior Court of 52 fraud-related felonies. Her scam involved convincing at least 20 investors to lend their money to homeowners whom Silvey had dealt with before. The homeowners would then send the investors monthly interest payments.

But the homeowners knew nothing of the supposed transaction — Silvey would take the cash herself and in true Ponzi fashion, use money from later victims to make payments to those she’d brought into the fold earlier.

“The real loss to the victims was the emotional pain they suffered at the hands of Ms. Silvey,” said deputy district attorney Katharina Wells in a statement. “Jill Silvey victimized her own family and close friends, stealing over $2 million to keep her Ponzi scheme going while spending the victims’ life savings on lavish personal items.”

At her sentencing, Silvey was also ordered to pay restitution to her victims.

The scam came to light when investors, frustrated by late payments, directly contacted the homeowners and learned they had no knowledge of ever getting a loan. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud unit began an investigation in 2012, and believe Silvey had been running the scam since 2005.